(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wrecker truck having a tilting and sliding deck for ease in moving a vehicle on and off the deck for transporting the vehicle. In particular, the present invention relates to a wrecker truck having a sliding deck which uses a pair of T-shaped sliding beams which slide along a pair of rails on the subframe to allow the deck to slide along the subframe of the truck.
(2) Description of the Related Art
The related art has shown various wrecker trucks having tiltable and sliding decks for transporting vehicles. Illustrative are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,753,064 to Lesser; 4,239,275 to Horneys et al; 2,932,418 to Ripley; 3,450,282 to Ezolt; 3,485,400 to Pewthers; 4,353,597 to Shoup; 4,645,405 to Cambiano; 4,756,658 to Moore et al and 4,929,142 to Nespor.
In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,329 to Farrell shows a flat bed truck for hauling vehicles. The truck has a multi-positional flat bed to assist with loading and unloading. The flat platform for supporting the load has at least two slide rails. The slide rails are slidable on the beams of the frame. The platform also has a pivot platform which allows the bed to extend outward beyond the pivot point of the frame which forms a smaller incline on the bed.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,909 to Roberts et al describes a wrecker truck having dual rails mounted on the frame with I-beams mounted on the deck. The I-beams slide between the pairs of dual rails such that the rails are in contact with both the upper and lower flanges of the I-beams.
Only of minimal interest are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,988,258 to Lutz et al; 2,576,385 to Bigsby; 2,997,343 to MacKinney et al and Japanese Patent No. 58-194633.
There remains the need for a wrecker truck having a tilting and sliding deck having T-shaped sliding members which allow for easy and controlled sliding of the deck along the rails on the subframe of the truck.